World Wars, the church contains a number of family war memorials in various forms. The stone pulpit was given by his parents in memory of Walter Atherton (killed in 1917), replacing a wooden pulpit that had been in the church since before its 1856 rebuild, and a brass eagle-shaped lectern in memory of his kinsman, Charles William Atherton (killed 1915), while a marble plaque lists five members of the De Grey-Warter family who died on active service in India, World War I and World War II. A single-storey extension with meeting room, kitchen, toilet and other facilities was added at the south-west corner in 2003. The churchyard contains one Commonwealth war grave, of an airman who died in 1943, in addition to two family tombs of the Whitehurst and Bromley families, which are Grade II Listed structures in their own right. Hanwood was a single church benefice throughout the 20th century. Since the last Rector of Hanwood in its own right left in 1999 St Thomas' parish is now part of the Church of England Benefice of Hanwood, Longden and Annscroft with Pulverbatch, within the Diocese of Hereford. Local government The village is the main settlement of the civil parish of Great Hanwood whose governing body is the unwarded Great Hanwood Parish Council, and has also been represented on the unitary Shropshire Council since 2009. Up to 2009 the civil parish was doubly represented, in both the Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council and the Shropshire County Council, which both ceased to exist that year with the creation of the unitary council. It is represented in Parliament within the Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency. Hanwood Colliery and brickworks From the 19th to the early 20th century the main industrial employer of Hanwood was coal mining, by the Hanwood Colliery, whose shaft was strictly outside the parish boundary to its west within the parish of Pontesbury near Cruckmeole. It was working in 1873, owned by Samuel Atherton of Cruckmeole who also owned another colliery nearby at Shorthill. It was sold in 1921 to Arthur Nicholas Fielden (son of Edward Brocklehurst Fielden) who linked it underground to a colliery already owned by him at Moat Hall near Annscroft. It continued, with an underground workforce that decreased from 248 in 1921 to 50 by 1941, until fully closing in 1942. The coal mined was in a seam known as Thin Coal, 25,000 tons a year